1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing system that uses, for example, forms.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a known system in which form data indicating a form part is created in advance, and data of numerical values and character strings are overlaid at predetermined places of the form data and are printed or displayed. Furthermore, there is a known technology for setting a break key in the middle of a field (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-222497).
There is another known technology in which, when a desired column of records is specified and a change of data (a break of continuous records) occurs in the records of the specified column, a break such as a line break is inserted, and when a change of data occurs in the records of a column that is not specified, a break is not inserted (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H07-175870).
It is assumed in this embodiment that, when record data corresponding to a field that is stored and arranged as AAAABBBBCCCC in a database changes, at the position of each “/” of AAAA/BBBB/CCCC, a change of record data (a break of record data) occurs.
However, in the related art, the setting of the break items is fixed for each form. For this reason, as a means for switching between inserting a page break and not inserting a page break and for displaying or printing it, it is necessary to create a duplicate form in which only break settings are different. For example, when it is desired to create a list of names in department units and in section units, it is necessary to create a form in which a break is set to “section” and a form in which a break is set to “department”, and this is inefficient. Furthermore, it is necessary for a user to consciously specify a form, and the user becomes burdened.
Alternatively, as another means, there is a known technique for extracting only the data to be displayed or printed without beginning a new page. However, this takes time and effort of changing extraction conditions again each time a display or a printing is performed.
Another disadvantage is that, when a printing is performed, a field in which a break is set cannot be changed dynamically and flexibly. Another problem is that, when a printing is performed, jobs are made separate, and a job may be interrupted by another job. Still yet another disadvantage is that, when a plurality of breaks are set, a break setting competition occurs between a high-order break (for example, a department break) and a low-order break (for example, a section break).